Sport

Injury victim Smith is making steady progress

ALEX Smith is making good progress as he recovers from knee surgery and the midfielder is now ahead of teammate Tijane Reis in his rehabilitation.

Smith, who was injured during the 2-0 victory at QPR in the Capital One Cup in August, has spent the following five months on the sidelines but is now back in training and Swindon Town manager Mark Cooper reckons the versatile player only needs two more development XI games before he reaches full match fitness.

In contrast, Reis has been struggling and will require a little longer before he can be considered for selection. The Portuguese last featured for Town in the 1-0 win over Stevenage on August 10.

“Alex has been really good. He needs one more game, maybe two games and then he’ll be ready to come back into contention, which is a bonus because he can play as a left-back and that might answer the centre-back question,” Cooper told the Advertiser.

“He can play in midfield, he can play wide so he’s a really flexible player who can play anywhere.

“He’s certainly wanted to make sure his knee was right before he came back but he’s looked good. It took longer than we thought but he’s looked strong and fit.

“I think Alex is in front of Tijane. Tijane’s is taking a little bit longer in my opinion. The weather is a bit of a hindrance at the moment because everyone is trying to keep their training pitches nice and if you play someone it has to be somebody with a really good training facility. We’re trying to get someone for next Wednesday.”